Makerua Settlers Worried Over Floodgates

Chronicle (Levin), 10 April 1948, Page 3

Makerua Settlers Worried Over Floodgates

Unless something is ttope about the silted-up floodgates and stream beds inthe Makerua area ther,e will be serious cdnsequenees in the winter when the floods come. At this week's meeting of the Makerua Drainage Board Mr. A. Gillespie said the floodgates on the Tokomaru River were getting in a bad state and the bed. ha'd risen more in the last year than in the last five. He visualised a hig flood over the> banks in a very short time. "Something must be done soon," he said. Mr. A. E. Olsen. said that the matter would go before the Catchment Board and they would bring it :to the notice of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Con+™i Council. "It is a.priority job, one that must be done quickly," he said. Mr. S. H. Claridge: The Catchment Board have the matter in mind. We must keep on hammering away with our problem. Mr. Gillespie: It is too much of a financial burden for the Makerua Drainage Board. Mr. Olsen: At least eight floodgates are out of commission. Mr. Gillespie: And another dozen praqtically out of commission. "It is certainly not helping to increase production," said Mr. Olsen. It was decided to make the Catchment" Board aware of the position. Mr. Claridge reported that the Catchment Board engineer (Mr-. P. G. Evans) had said that if the board would detail the work it wanted done with a dragline the Catchment Board would consider purchasing one for the use of drainage boards. They would be able to make their own conditions { a s to times of use. It could be r'ea'dy in about 12 months. The Drainage Board. would have their survey completed by that time. Mr. Olsen said this was "a ray of sunshine. We can do with a few rays of sunshine. We've got to move if we want to get out of the -muddle we are in." On the motion of Mr. Claridge, seconded by Mr. W. Mc. Williams it was deci'ded to show the Catchment Board that the Drainage Board had work for such a machine. The engineer, Mr, O. J. Dolan, was directed to make arrangements for a machine to clean out the blockages in the intersecting channel. Mr. N. I. Nielsen, clerk to the board, said the cost of cleaning the channel on a previous occasion had been £274 in wages alone. Mr. I. V. Burkhart: Wp could save enough to buy a machine of our own in a few years at that rate. The overseer, Mr. P. V. Tucker, reported that the cleaning -of the channel was in progress" and to date 190 chains had been completed. Some of this had already been filled in by bullocks. Exceptional damage by stock , and the almost total absence- of water had made it more. difficult to clean out thd j channel than .ever before. Birnie and Coombs' drain was cleaned out but owing to the silting up of the Tokomaru Stream very bttle benefit could be obtained. A temporary floodgate has been fitted to Rowlands Brothers' property (Main | Drain) . It woul'd be replaced with a new side-hinged gate as soon as it could be obtained. A new floodgate was also on order to replace the damaged gate on Mr. Speirs' property. Mr. Dolan reported that nermission had been granted by the Catchment Board to nsa their machine on the Seifert's drain improvenient work. Arrangements for contractors were in hand and the preliminary work would start at once. The Catchment Board also advised that the height of the stopbank at Himatangi must be two feet below the Makerua bank. A deputation waited on the board regarding the cleaning of Spring Creek on the old Liggins estate. It was sf&ted that at present the water which usually flowed through the creek was menacing the farm

of Mr. D. N. Andrew^. It was 'deci^ed' that'th^wh61^ matter be investigated -by '& engineer and that he report.': Bofch parties concerned. in. the dispute' are to be advised'; The new southern boundary of the Wanganui Public Works district now includes the southern watershed of the MangtWatu ^River inthe Horowhenua county, part of the Manawatu-Oroua ' River Board's district and the whole of the Makerua and Buckley Drainage Boards' districts, stated a letter from the Works Department. The boundary of the Wanganui and Wellington districts had always been fixed for general purposes as the northern boundary of the Horowhenua, County. It has now been decided to amend the boundary in regard to all soil conservation, rivers control and drainage works. The credit balance on Mareh 31, 1948, was £3393 8s 3d. This compared favourably with £2383 19s 4d for 1947, but was below the 1946 figure of £3835 18s 5d. The sum of £392 13s 8d in rates was unpaid while £14,160 0s 8d had been paid. This figure has not been exceeded during the last six years.